The labor ministry is considering stripping advertising giant Dentsu Inc. of a certification that shows it is a “family-friendly” company, following the death of several employees from conditions related to overwork. “We want to take strict measures, including taking back (the ministry-given certificate),” Health, ...

Pope Francis entered his 80th year on Thursday amid hopes among his critics that it will be his last — at least as pope. While Francis remains enormously popular among most rank-and-file Catholics, a small but vocal group of conservatives who have never much ...

U.S. gender equality experts on Wednesday criticized a ruling by Japan’s Supreme Court upholding a law requiring spouses to use the same surname, describing the law as outdated. “Having the same name as her husband is not necessarily against her self-interest, but it should ...

Plaintiffs contesting family laws that require spouses to choose a single surname expressed shock and anger at Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling, saying it sets a bad precedent and will force more women to suffer the misery of having to change their name upon marriage. ...

The Tokyo Family Court has ruled in favor of actor and former pop idol Mikio Osawa, who had denied any biological connection with the son he allegedly fathered with actress and ex-wife Mai Kitajima. The case went to court last month after Osawa, former ...

Just days after closing a contentious meeting of bishops from around the world, Pope Francis turned his attention Tuesday to more domestic but equally contentious affairs. He issued a stern warning to Vatican bureaucrats to obey Vatican rules and laws as he goes about ...

Pope Francis met Sunday with a family who made a 13,000-mile trip over 194 days from Argentina to Philadelphia in an old Volkswagen van. Francis spent time with fellow Argentinians Catire Walker and Noel Zemborain and their four children and was touched by their ...

Oklahoma police responding to an emergency call in which no one spoke found a gruesome scene at a suburban Tulsa home — five members of a family dead or dying from stabbing and a sixth wounded but alive near the front door. Broken Arrow ...

After decades of a national conversation about the need for more babies, there is still disagreement as to what sort of measures Japan should take in order to increase its birthrate. The obstacles are financial, social and physiological, and before they can be addressed ...

Hundreds of thousands of people filled a park in Ecuador’s main port city Monday for Pope Francis’ first big event of his three-nation South American tour, hoping for a glimpse of Latin America’s first pope returning to his home soil for a Mass dedicated ...